


if you've got no place to go

by seeingrightly



Category: Pacific Rim (Movies)
Genre: M/M, Post-Drift (Pacific Rim)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-25
Updated: 2018-07-25
Packaged: 2019-06-16 03:49:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,999
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15428391
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seeingrightly/pseuds/seeingrightly
Summary: Newt was suddenly seized with an urge to pet the cat. He knew, intellectually, that he wasn’t supposed to pet street cats, and he also knew, intellectually, that he had never particularly been interested in cats before.Newt’s impulses must have been combining with a desire that was stemming from Hermann’s real estate in his head.





	if you've got no place to go

**Author's Note:**

  * For [freezerjerky](https://archiveofourown.org/users/freezerjerky/gifts).



> tbh i don't think i ever saw a stray cat in the north end but i did see a lot of italian cookies. and then i ate them
> 
> this was written against my will for [lindsey](https://archiveofourown.org/users/freezerjerky)
> 
> title from "take a chance on me" by abba again lmao

 

 

 

 

 

There was a startling amount of side effects from drifting together. Newt had taken to stealing Hermann’s grandpa cardigans. Hermann was speaking a little less formally and smiling more and had even gone out in public wearing less than twelve layers of clothing. Also, they were in a relationship, or something, now. Newt wasn’t really sure what to call it, or when they were going to talk about it, but, well, they’d both seen some shit in one another’s heads, and then they’d saved the world, and then they’d made out a bunch and hadn’t really stopped in the weeks since.

 

It was weird, and nice, and Newt was pretty sure they were both tip-toeing a bit so as not to disrupt the newfound situation, but that came to a head when they both logged into their work emails one morning first thing and found out they, and everyone else, been relieved of their duties, as the PPDC was being shut down for real this time, now that the world was safe.

 

“Oh,” Newt said, sitting down heavily in his desk chair, rather than continuing to lean over his computer.

 

“Oh,” Hermann said, pulling off his glasses and looking over at Newt.

 

After a few moments of shock, Hermann got up and starting shuffling around the papers on his desk.

 

“Dude, what are you doing?” Newt asked, but he knew Hermann’s avoidance tactics very well.

 

“Packing, apparently,” Hermann sniffed.

 

Newt got up and went around to Hermann’s desk, sitting in the space he’d cleared. Hermann didn’t turn to look at him, and he had his jaw clenched very tightly, and Newt had known since he read the email that he was gonna do something stupid but he didn’t know what until it was already happening.

 

“Wanna come to Boston with me?” he asked.

 

Hermann paused in his shuffling and, after a long moment, turned slowly to Newt, his face blank. Newt was pretty sure it was an intentional mask and not shock. Newt shrugged up at him and smiled a little. Hermann would know there wasn’t any particular intention behind it, no planning, just instinct and want. He would know Newt meant it.

 

“Hm,” Hermann said. “I suppose I do.”

 

“Cool,” Newt said, smiling more broadly, but he felt suddenly nervous, shy almost.

 

Hermann seemed to sense it, because he put his hand on Newt’s thigh and leaned over to kiss the side of his head before he turned back to organizing the papers on his desk, less urgently than before.

 

-

 

Newt had always wanted to live in the North End, with its quaint old buildings and endless restaurants and bakeries. He couldn’t afford to live there as a student, and it wouldn’t have been an easy commute either, but now - well, he didn’t know what the future would hold now, but he suddenly  _ had _ one, and so he found a one-bedroom apartment in the North End, one with an elevator and a street that wasn’t too crooked or angled.

 

It was surreal to wake up in the apartment that first morning. He imagined he could smell fresh Italian pastries from a few doors down, and sunlight was streaming in through the first real windows he’d had in years, and Hermann was lying beside him under a mound of blankets.

 

Both of their belongings were still in boxes for the most part, except for some of Hermann’s clothing and toiletries, but Newt had begun to empty his the night before, bringing necessities into the kitchen and bedroom and bathroom as time went on. All of Hermann’s boxes were shoved into one corner of the living room that didn’t have any furniture yet; he didn’t exactly have anywhere else to put them, and Newt didn’t want to talk about their options just yet.

 

Newt stretched and stuck his legs out from under the blanket. His Hermann instincts really wanted him to wear socks to bed now, but his Newt feet liked to overheat, and he hadn’t figured out a good compromise yet. Now that he was awake, he peeled off the sweaty socks and threw them on the floor, and then he rolled over on top of Hermann.

 

“Morning,” Hermann croaked, shifting slightly.

 

Newt lifted his weight so that Hermann could uncurl and roll onto his back, and then he dropped back down again, an arm and a leg thrown over his torso, several blankets between them.

 

“This is my apartment,” Newt said happily, and Hermann let out a noise that might have been amused.

 

“Congratulations,” he replied, his eyes still closed. “We should go buy groceries today.”

 

“Ugh,” Newt replied.

 

“Though,” Hermann continued suddenly, “I find that my definition of the term ‘groceries’ has become quite muddled. I hope you’ve inherited my old one so that  _ someone _ will shop sensibly.”

 

“Tragically, no,” Newt replied, grinning, though it was not entirely true. “I guess ice cream and cereal for dinner every night it is.”

 

Hermann sighed dramatically, worming an arm out from under the blankets to drape it over Newt.

 

“Then I will just have to be strong for the both of us and ignore your powerful impulses,” Hermann said, opening his eyes to look at Newt. “I do - I’m being quite serious here - have much more sympathy for all of the ridiculous choices you make now that I better understand what you’re contending with in there.”

 

“Aw,” Newt said. “Buddy, you were in my actual head. You know intrusive thoughts and impulses only account for, like, a third of the stupid shit I do. The rest is all me, baby.”

 

Hermann rolled his eyes.

 

“You know, now that we’re not at  _ work _ I protest less to the concept of pet names, but I am still not overly fond of  _ that _ one, Newton.”

 

Newt sat up very suddenly, making Hermann flinch slightly.

 

“Wait, seriously?” Newt asked, his voice rising in pitch. “Which one  _ does  _ do it for you then? No, don’t tell me. I wanna guess. I’m gonna try them out and you let me know. Okay? Sweetheart?”

 

Hermann grimaced.

 

“That’s no fair!” Newt said. “I can’t tell if that was in response to the pet name or the rest of what I said.”

 

“I imagine you’ll encounter that problem frequently,” Hermann replied.

 

-

 

They did, in fact, go grocery shopping later in the day. They decided to walk a few blocks to the nearest grocery store to test the waters, then get a ride home if they bought a lot. They were following the map on Hermann’s phone through a back alley when Newt spotted a cat further down the sidewalk.

 

Newt was suddenly seized with an urge to pet the cat. He knew, intellectually, that he wasn’t supposed to pet street cats, and he also knew, intellectually, that he had never particularly been interested in cats before.

 

Newt’s impulses must have been combining with a desire that was stemming from Hermann’s real estate in his head.

 

“Newton, what is it?” Hermann asked, turning, and Newt realized that he’d stopped walking completely.

 

“Uhhhh,” Newt said. “Nothing? Nothing.”

 

He was wrong about that. It happened all four times he spotted a cat that week; apparently the North End had a dense population of strays. He managed to curb the instinct every time, but every time it made him wonder what was going on in Hermann’s actual head when he saw those cats.

 

-

 

Newt broke when they stumbled into an adoption fair being hosted at the nearby park, a few weeks into living in the North End. He wasn’t sure, yet, if he should think of it as himself living in the North End or the both of them; they hadn’t talked yet about their plans, about whether Hermann was staying. More and more of Hermann’s belongings were making their way out of the boxes still shoved into the corner of the living room. Newt was afraid to spook Hermann by bringing it up.

 

He was pretty sure Hermann liked the North End. Hermann had a surprise sweet tooth and liked all the bakeries, and they’d started going for walks and recognizing their - Newt’s - neighbors. They went for a walk in the park at least once a week.

 

It was full, on this morning, of a bunch of young people in matching t-shirts holding puppies, wranging older dogs on leashes, passing cats off to one another. Newt froze in his steps.

 

“Aw, fuck,” he said, and then he walked straight up to a girl holding a particularly grumpy-looking orangey Persian cat.

 

“Hi there,” the girl said. “This is Jeff Goldblum. Do you want to hold him?”

 

“ _ Fuck _ ,” Newt said again, and the girl grinned up at him. “Yes, I definitely do.”

 

Newt didn’t even really know  _ how _ to hold a cat, at least not consciously, but apparently some part of his brain did,  _ and he knew which part to blame _ . He took the cat into his arms like a damn expert, and despite the squished, angry expression, Jeff Goldblum the cat purred and rubbed his face against Newt’s shirt.

 

“May I ask what you are doing?” Hermann asked, and Newt spun around guiltily.

 

Hermann was wearing his intentionally blank face, Newt knew that now. 

 

“No,” Newt said, “you may  _ not _ . You  _ know _ what I’m doing, you secret cat-wanter!”

 

Hermann raised his eyebrows. He looked genuinely startled.

 

“Oh,” he said. “I - well, yes. We had then when I was growing up, and then I couldn’t - because of the Shatterdome lifestyle. I didn’t - I didn’t realize you…”

 

He trailed off. Newt knew that Hermann wasn’t to blame for any part of this situation, not really, but he still felt overwhelmed by the conflicting wants in his head, and it spilled out of him.

 

“Well I have been,” Newt finished wildly. “Your cat feelings combined with my impulses, man. Every time I see one I lose my shit.”

 

The girl who had handed him the cat was looking very confused, so Newt flashed her what was probably a concerning smile and took a few steps away from her, still holding Jeff Goldblum.

 

“Hermann, I don’t know what to do with a cat,” Newt said. “I don’t know how to interact with them or what they need but I  _ have to get one _ .”

 

“No you don’t,” Hermann said slowly, though his eyes kept drifting down to the cat in Newt’s arms.

 

“I do,” Newt said. “And you want one and you know how to take care of one. Adopt Jeff Goldblum with me, Hermann.”

 

Hermann’s eyes widened, and then narrowed as he glanced down at the cat.

 

“Where -”

 

“Stay with me,” Newt interrupted. “Live with me. Whatever we do next we’re gonna do it together. I - I think we are. I want to. I want to get a cat with you.”

 

“Newton,” Hermann said, shaking his head. “Listen to yourself. Our thoughts and impulses are so overlapped, I don’t know how we can be sure we’re each making our own decisions. Maybe we should wait -”

 

“I think we want the same things,” Newt said. “For all of the important stuff.”

 

Hermann looked down, his lips pressed together tightly. He looked conflicted, and he looked pleased. Newt took a step closer.

 

“Tell me you don’t want to move in with me,” he said, and Hermann stayed quiet, so he took another step closer. “Tell me you don’t want this cat.”

 

Hermann looked up at that, and slowly brought his hand up for Jeff Goldblum to inspect. After a moment, he dug his fingers into the cat’s fur, and the cat purred.

 

“Fine,” Hermann said after a moment.

 

“What a romantic declaration,” Newt replied triumphantly. “Thanks, honey.”

 

Hermann grimaced again, but then the girl who’d given Newt the cat bounded over.

 

“So you’re gonna adopt him?” she gushed. “Not that I was listening. Or understood most of what you were talking about.”

 

-

 

Jeff Goldblum the cat was particularly fond of empty cardboard boxes. It was fortunate that Newt and Hermann’s apartment was filled with so many of them.

 

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> find me on tumblr at [ch3ry1b10ss0m](https://ch3ry1b10ss0m.tumblr.com/) and twitter at [coralbluenmbr5](https://twitter.com/coralbluenmbr5)


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